A wide range of physical, psychological problems are assuaged by belief or belonging

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- In a new study published in the current issue
of the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, researchers from the
University of Denver, the University at Buffalo and the University
of California, Irvine, report that after a collective
trauma--defined as a traumatic event that happens simultaneously to
a large number of people (9/11, in this case)--religiosity and
spirituality independently predict people's health outcomes.

The study, "The Distinct Roles of Spirituality and Religiosity
in Physical and Mental Health after Collective Trauma: A National
Longitudinal Study of Responses to the 9/11 Attacks," was conducted
by Daniel N. McIntosh, PhD, professor of psychology at UD; Michael
J. Poulin, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at UB; and E.
Alison Holman, PhD, assistant professor of nursing science, UC
Irvine.

In the three years following 9/11, they found that religious
individuals (i.e. those who participated in religious social
structures by attending services) had a higher positive affect,
fewer cognitive intrusions (unwanted intrusive thoughts about
9/11), and lower odds of new onset mental and musculoskeletal
ailments than among those in the study who expressed no religious
or spiritual proclivities.

Those who were high versus low in spirituality (i.e. feeling a
personal commitment to spiritual or religious beliefs) had a higher
positive affect, lower odds of new onset infectious ailments, and
more cognitive intrusions, but a more rapid decline in intrusions
over time.

"These findings focused on responses to a collective trauma,"
Poulin says, "but they may apply to stress and coping more
generally."

"I think it's reasonable to speculate that religion and
spirituality might help survivors of the recent Japan disasters
adjust to the stress of that experience, although the pattern of
results might not be the same," he says, noting that, unlike Japan,
the culture of the U.S. is heavily individualistic.

"The culture of Japan, however, is more collectivistic in that
it focuses on the goals and experiences of groups like the family
or nation, so religious practice, which involves group
participation, may be more important to post-trauma health and well
being in that context," Poulin notes.

The authors point out that, while researchers previously have
identified health implications of religiosity and spirituality,
they have rarely addressed differences between these two
dimensions.

"Spirituality and religiosity are substantively related to each
other in that both are connected to the idea of something sacred,
holy, or transcendent," Poulin says, but this study suggests that
different aspects of religious experience may have different health
outcomes."

Health information was collected from a nationally
representative sample of 890 adults before 9/11. The subjects'
health, religiosity and spirituality were assessed longitudinally
during six waves of data collection over the next three years.

"Across that time span, with numerous controls, religiosity and
spirituality were found to be independently and differentially
related to mental and physical health," Poulin says, "so they are
not interchangeable indices of religion."

The study controlled for age, gender, marital status, ethnicity,
education and household income as well as direct exposure to the
attacks, lifetime exposure to stressful events and such health risk
factors as body mass index and smoking.

Analyses of the associations of religiosity and spirituality
with mental and physical health outcomes were done using multilevel
regression models (mixed effects or hierarchical linear
models).

"We focus on individual experiences, goals, etc.," Poulin says,
"so it's not too surprising that some of our most important study
results pertained to spirituality.

Future work, say the researchers, should compare the influence
of spirituality and religiosity on health across a variety of
indicators and contexts. The resulting patterns will illuminate
processes through which these phenomena together and separately
influence mental and physical health.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive
public university, a flagship institution in the State University
of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus.
UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests
through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional
degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a
member of the Association of American Universities.

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